Chapter 4 Emma
Chapter four
Emma
Okay, maybe I am a little crazy.
Thirty minutes later, I watch Greyson strap Gracie into her car seat in the back of his black pickup truck. “It’s about a forty-five-minute drive, just stay behind me.” He nods to my vehicle, telling me to get settled, and hops behind the wheel of his, without waiting until I get to my car.
I speedwalk over to my white Mercedes and jump in, starting it quickly as I buckle up.
Thankfully, the rain has stopped. Jesus, he’s already driving away?
! What an asshole! I'm going to regret this, aren’t I?
I quickly pull out of the parking lot and notice his truck idling to the side.
Okay, maybe not too much of an asshole. But still.
Once he spots me, he takes off again as I follow behind.
We make our way into New Jersey to the same neighborhood where Cecilia lives, as well as our other friend, Morgan. That's odd. Last time I checked, Greyson lived in New York City, which now makes sense why he said forty-five minutes.
We turn into a driveway leading up to a beautiful large home that isn’t at all what I would have expected Greyson to live in.
It’s modern rustic with light stones and dark bricks.
The front lawn looks like it’s been beautifully taken care of, although everything is freezing over given the cold November weather we’ve been having.
It’s the type of house my parents would own, if it were bigger, of course, not a penthouse bad boy bachelor. Because that’s the vibe Greyson Ford gives off with his ‘I don’t give a shit’ attitude and body painted with tattoos.
Grey parks in the driveway even though there’s a double garage up ahead. I pull up beside him and kill the engine, stepping out of my car to admire the beautiful house I’ll be calling home for a little while.
“You live here?” I ask Greyson as he jumps out of his truck and heads over to the back door on the passenger side to collect Gracie. “What’s the matter? The city life wasn’t good enough for the ladies anymore? Needed an upgrade to attract a higher type of clientele?” I snicker at my own joke.
Greyson instantly straightens and glares at me. “No, I needed an upgrade because I have a child now. I couldn’t exactly keep living in a two-bedroom townhouse that I shared with my sister and have Gracie sleeping in a closet,” he growls through his teeth, clearly not appreciating my comment.
He turns back to the truck and picks up Gracie’s sleeping form, cradling her to his chest as he adds quietly, “This was the only place that was decent on the market last week and ready to move in immediately on such short notice.”
“Well, that makes more sense then,” I mumble to myself a bit too loudly.
That glare quickly resurfaces as he stares down at me. “What? Not what you’d expect a guy like me to have? Too nice and clean, right?”
The way he says it makes it sound like people always expect the worst from him, and I instantly feel guilty for my earlier thoughts. The truth is, I don’t really know much about Greyson.
He doesn’t talk a lot about his life, and he never seems to care about anything. Except for the puck bunnies. With the stories I’ve heard from Aubrey, he’s a huge man-whore with a new woman in his bed every day of the week.
He shakes his head and takes a deep breath while I search for an apology.
“Come on. I want to put her down so she can sleep a little longer. Leave your things in your car. I’ll get them after giving you a tour,” he says in short, clipped tone.
Then he turns toward the house, once again leaving me behind.
I jog after him in my black Louboutin heeled boots that I found in my car and step inside the luxury home. I find myself completely stunned as I take in the inside, my jaw dropping to the floor with how majestic the interior of the house is.
Like the outside, it’s a perfect blend of modern and rustic. Beige walls with dark exposed beams all over, a huge stone fireplace sitting in the living room with dark furniture, and large windows that make the place glow with sunlight. It’s absolutely breathtaking; I can only imagine the rest.
It’s silly. I’m rich, like rich-rich. I grew up in a mansion and have been around luxury my entire life. Yet I still get taken away by beautiful new places I encounter.
I look around quickly and notice all the baby gear lying around. Nothing seems to have an appropriate place yet, but that makes sense since he said he moved in last week.
Greyson places Gracie delicately in her baby swing, covering her up with a tiny blanket, then turns back to me and looks around the room. “Sorry it’s such a mess. I’m still getting the hang of things.”
“It’s fine.” I shrug and offer a sympathetic smile. “I can only imagine what you’ve been going through.”
We stare at each other for a moment, until he clears his throat and looks away. “I’ll show you around, then you can unpack. I don’t have a game tonight, so I’m free for the rest of the day. We’ll go over Gracie’s schedule later.”
“After you.” I dramatically wave my hand out in a gesture that tells him to go first.
He closes his eyes and breathes through his nostrils. I can see them flare with irritation from here. It almost makes me laugh. Greyson and I could never really stand each other, but we’ll have to try for Gracie’s sake. This is going to be quite the entertaining experiment.
He shows me around the house, going through every room on the first floor, then up to the second. He leads us to the first of the five doors at the end of the hall. “This one’s Aubrey’s.” He points at the door on the right but doesn’t open it, keeping her privacy.
“Will Aubrey mind me being here?” It just hit me that his sister, one of the many friends I haven’t talked to lately, lives with him.
“No. And she’s moving out this weekend, so it will just be us two and Gracie as of Saturday,” he says, continuing down the hall to the next door.
“She’s moving out? I didn’t know that.” I frown behind him.
“You would if you’d kept in touch.” Well, shit. Stick the knife where it hurts.
He stops abruptly and places his fists on his hips, dropping his chin to his chest. He lets out an audible sigh, then spins my way. “Look, I’m sorry. That was a shitty thing for me to say.”
I fold my arms under my chest and look to the side. “But it’s the truth. I know. You don’t have to pretend to like me, Greyson. I know how you feel about me, and I know the only reason you offered this to me is because you’re desperate. Not because you actually want to help me in any way.”
I bite the inside of my cheek and shift my weight from one foot to the other, those emotions I’m desperately trying to ignore swirling up to the surface. I will not cry right now, certainly not in front of him.
His tongue pokes the inside of his cheek, making it pop out slightly as he studies me.
“It’s not that I don’t like you, Emma. We’re just two very different people.
But we’ll have to figure out a way to get around that if we want this to work.
I’m not the asshole you think I am, and I’m sure you’re not as crazy as I think you are. ”
“Gee, thanks,” I deadpan.
His lip twitches before he sticks out his hand. “How about we call a truce? If we do something that bothers the other, we bring it up to fix the problem.”
I bite my lip and stare at his hand, considering his request. “Okay, fine. Truce.” I put my hand in his, sealing our agreement with a handshake.
Releasing my hand, he brings us to the next room, which happens to be mine and is located beside Aubrey’s.
Then there are two doors on the left wall and one facing us at the end.
He points to the left door that faces mine first. “That’s Gracie’s room, and that one is mine.
” Then he points to the last one at the end before turning the knob to my door and opening it.
The room is pretty large and spacious, with a queen-size bed, two nightstands, and a dresser, as well as an attached bathroom and small walk-in closet. Yeah, my clothes are never going to fit in there. The walls are painted a bright yellow, and the furniture and bedding are all white.
I love it! This is so me!
He stands by the door as I look around. “You can change whatever you’d like if you find it too bright in here,” he says, looking around with revulsion.
“No, it’s perfect.” I tap my index finger to my lip, thinking of how to make it even better.
“Oh! I could add some yellow throw pillows and a fluffy rug, maybe some big white and yellow 3D flowers on the walls. Add some flowery curtains… ooh! And a big antique full-length mirror right there! Yes! It will be perfect, beautiful!” There’s already a tall mirror hanging off the wall, but it’s pretty basic and not really my style.
I spin around in circles and giggle before falling down to the bed on my back, arms spread wide with my hair laid out like a red halo. Jesus, maybe I really am crazy? One minute I feel like crying, the next I’m laughing. I think I’ve officially lost it.
When I turn my head to the side, I find Greyson with his forehead to the doorframe, eyes screwed shut. I giggle again with the back of my hand to my lips as he opens one eye and looks my way.
“Okay, maybe you were on to something with the crazy.” I sit up on the bed with my hands resting behind my back and wink at him.
His lip twitches once more, the beginning of a smile forming but dying before it even has time to bloom. Now that I think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Grey smile. What a shame.
A high-pitched wail travels into the room, and Greyson quickly looks back out toward the stairs.
“Looks like the princess is up. Why don’t you take her while I grab your things from your car and bring them up?
She’s probably hungry if you want to give her a bottle.
There are some in the fridge, just needs warming up. ”